Angry monkeys beat cruel trainer with his own stick

Wow, what can you say to this?

He treated them badly, exploited them by the sounds of it ... & when the opportunity arose, they they responded with violence to his cruelty.

A sad story & a sad picture. Life sounds pretty tough in Sizhou, China.

... but something suggests to me that the monkey trainer's life was pretty desperate & miserable, too. Not that I'm excusing animal cruelty for a minute.

Was one of them named "Spartacus"?

Your comment, Miss Olga, was ironic to me. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded by the English Member of Parliament, Richard Martin ("Humanity Dick" to the popular press) and the MP William Wilberforce, in 1824. Wilberforce is best known to history for his campaign against first the slave trade, and then the practice of slavery in the British Empire.

One immediate goals of the Society was to prevent the abuse of horses and dogs in commercial enterprises--especially the abuse of dogs, which had a useful appeal to middle class and wealthy donors who might be so moved to support Martin's and Wilberforce's new Society. At the same time, opponents to what were seen as the draconian measures of Martin and Wilberforce made the point that the new proposals would take the bread from the mouths of poor people, whose entire livelihood depended upon the draft animals they used, and in particular it was claimed that those who used dog carts (literal dog carts, and not the horse-drawn vehicles known as dog carts) were so poor, that without the use of their dogs to draw their carts, they would be unable to pursue their livelihoods and that they would starve.

Yeah, you're right there, Set.

I was transfixed by that photograph yesterday. Still am today.

It is hard (impossible) to pinpoint any actual blame between the monkeys & their keeper. It is an extremely desperate situation for both sides. I noticed that one of the taglines for this thread was something like "animal abuse", and without a doubt the lives of these monkeys would be extremely hard. But then, so would be the life of their keeper. Both sides are locked into a miserable existence through the extreme poverty of their circumstances.

My pet cat probably eats more nutritious food each day, lives in a safer environment & has better health care than the keeper of those monkeys experiences. But the suffering of the animals is gut wrenching. And, of course, nothing will change while such desperate poverty exists.


Sigh.

I'm sorry, but as someone who grew up on a farm, "using" animals to put food on the table, it never involved beating them with a stick or any other object. Training them was never abusive and never has to be. Animal cruelty is animal cruelty whether it is by a rich person or a poor person. No excuse.

I'm a bit taken back by the argument that the mans life must also be difficult and the animals are at his service to make his living possible. The same argument is made for abusing animals in testing products intended for humans. It is possible to do so without abuse and it is possible for the man to demonstrate his monkeys ability to ride bicycles without abusing them.

Hurray for the monkeys!

On the other hand...

This series of photo's from the incident doesn't really indicate the man fought back or defended himself as one might be expected to do without thought if being attacked.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2008/12/17/angry-monkeys-turn-tables-on-cruel-trainer-and-beat-him-senseless-pictures-115875-20977983/

I see no reason to assume that any comment here about the man's poverty was intended to justify the abuse of the animals.

This has been an interesting thread. I'm appreciating all posts. Still haven't worked myself up to seeing the video, but soon, soon.

He really shouldn't have spanked his monkey.

Dear goddess.

I still appreciate all posts..

That was absolutely not my intention, Set.

One might imagine that evolution theory would be content to allow people who use dogs to draw their carts to become extinct.

In fact it seems it already has done apart from that tiny minority who deal with the meaninglessness of their lives by trekking to the poles.

I goofed, I was thinking it was a video and began to think of the photographer/anguished devastation thing (some will know which pic and photog I mean), while not wanting to watch it yet.... and of course, it isn't a video, but a photo. So much for my avoidance tendencies.

Interesting re the photographer in any case, not that I'm all ready to be against the photographer. Would like to hear about/from her or him.

If it's only a photo it proves nothing.

squinney

To me (anyway) how animals are treated on a farm in an affluent country with (pretty near universal education) is an entirely different matter to what animals (& humans, for that matter) experience when living in circumstances of grinding poverty. I am not excusing the monkey keeper, I'm saying that I understand the circumstances in which the animal cruelty occurs. I guess I'm saying that I have sympathy for both animals & humans in such hard circumstances. I see both as victims of poverty.

On the other hand, I have zero tolerance of animal abuse in affluent societies where humans have a clear choice in the treatment of helpless animals. Battery chicken farms, or say, the live export of Australian sheep to the Middle East (over months, by ship) should be banned, no question, in my opinion. There is absolutely no excuse for such cruel, abhorrent practises & they should not be tolerated in an affluent society.

Thing is, people can still be grindingly poor in affluent societies, some raised with education, but many also having trouble with that.

I'm not sure any affluent society has been such across the land.

If anyone answers, US, I've news for you.

I'm not really sure of what you mean here, osso. Could you elaborate?